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Originally Posted by snoopi88
i personally feel that translating lyrics might be of help in the vocabulary and grammar...but speaking and written is different?like informal, formal and the most polite form??
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I don`t recommend lyrics at ALL. For one, as they`re not using normal patterns, are usually fairly "artistic" and leave out important bits, they`re incredibly difficult to *properly* translate. You`ll find "translations" all over the net, but most of the time they`re not really accurate - as they`re lyrics and not actual speech or literature far too much ends up being guessing.
And even if you DID somehow amazingly manage to translate it properly word-by-word, they use patterns not used in normal speech so it`s not going to help you there. Lyrics are good for learning new words MUCH MUCH later in the game when you understand the grammar and can recognize the difference between common and lyrical patterns.
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Originally Posted by chachava
I disagree - all you will hear is native speech so will barely comprehend anything!
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And I disagree with you.
How does a baby learn to speak any language? They don`t comprehend *anything* at first, and the entire world is new to them... But yet, a typical child will learn to speak fluently in about 3 years. If we discount the actual time it takes for a child to gain the physical and mental skills required to be able to speak in the first place, we`re talking less than 6 months. Children removed from their native language environments and dropped into a different language are often indistinguishable from their peers in 3 months - without the use of any language study courses, etc.
When you are in an environment where you don`t understand anything, your brain will go into overdrive to try and link bits together and make sense of things. It actually slows you down to try and translate in some form. Unless you are ignoring the language and searching for English (One of the most common things that happens with the "been in Japan 10 years and can`t speak a word!" people) you will naturally learn from the most commonly used phrases and words - just like a child does - and you will acquire the language quite quickly.
On the contrary, if you`re in an environment where you understand about half (as it`s in your native language) and don`t understand half (in Japanese) - make a guess which half you`ll come to depend on for information and which half will become background noise...
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As for a suggestion;
If you can`t actually come to Japan, I would make use of realistic manga. If it takes place in the real world, in a modern setting, without characters who have speech impediments, you can almost guarantee that it will use normal patterns of speech. Literary Japanese is different from spoken Japanese, so normal books aren`t of much help. Manga is usually written in *all* spoken forms and often has furigana on the kanji.
As the pronunciation of hiragana is pretty much static, if you`re certain of that then you can have a good idea of how things are said.
Nothing, however, compares to actually HAVING to use the language to survive and communicate though.